You assume all value creation happens in these big companies and that the only valid exit is being acquired by them. That's not really the case. A lot of value

You assume all value creation happens in these big companies and that the only valid exit is being acquired by them. That's not really the case. A lot of value gets created outside these companies. And every time that happens, their default mode seems to panic, do a lot of hiring and ramp up some big R&D effort. Failure seems common for these projects. And typically more expensive than doing it via startups. Just look at all the spending on AI in big tech companies. Most of it seems rushed and not really that effective. And they are all responding to each other; and to some well funded startups that are succeeding where they are failing. > you need ten of thousands of startups Just do the math. That's a few tens of billions in funding. Well within range of the R&D budgets of these large companies (individually even). And of course a lot of the investment burden and risk is shared with a wider community of investors. Their main issue is absorbing this R&D and value back into their companies. Acquisitions and acquihires aren't that effective mostly. Employing a large ineffective workforce at premium rates also isn't free and hardly a guarantee for value creation. That's why layoffs are a thing.